This is where you will find my beads, jewelry, hand dyed silk cords and Kumihimo braids. Some of these things are still available in my Etsy shop which you can go to by clicking the pictures to the right. :)

Friday, November 21, 2014

It's been such a long time I posted anything about the bellflower presses and what I've made with them that I decided it was time once again for an update. All the flowers I've made have been for bouquets but a few bellflowers and bellflower bouquets stand alone. :)

There's so much you can do with those presses other than "just" a bellflower even though the bellflower is still and always will be the star ! :) I did some back searching on my blog and in my photo catalog and sure enough I was playing and experimenting with such things way back in 2012. One thing I did do back then was make daffodil type flowers as shown in the photo's below. I recently sold this bouquet with a daffodil type flower in it.

They're easy to make actually just takes a little more time. I have used 2 different methods both of which work fine. Method #1 - Make the petals first and keep warm on a warming plate. To make the petals, I use this tool petal puller which works very well. The petals can be used in either direction - with tip attached or tip facing outward. For the daffodil, the tips are facing out. Once those are made then I make the bellflower. Once bellflower is done I then attach the petals, any number you want to attach and wha-la - a daffodil type flower ! :) Put in kiln.

Method #2 - Make the bellflower and the petals. DO NOT ATTACH the petals. Instead do the following - Keeping the petals on the warming plate, get a mandrel and make a spacer bead. It can be round or donut shaped but a spacer bead. Then add the petals around the outside edge of the bead with the tips facing outward if you use the petal pullers or if you make the yourself. Wha-la, you have your daffodil petals. Put it in the kiln. Once everything has cooled & your spacer bead has been cleaned, you can then assemble the daffodil type flower. Take your bellflower bead and slide the wire thru the spacer bead hole to see how it fits. If you have a good fit and the bellflower sits flat or at least close to flat, you can then add glue to the bottom of the bellflower and/ or the inside of the spacer bead and attach the bellflower to the spacer bead and let dry. I just use Super glue. Wha - la - you have your daffodil type flower. Sounds like alot of work but really it's not and the outcome is pretty. :)

The yellow daffodil flower in the bouquet below is done using Method #2. This bouquet was made in 2012.

The yellow daffodil flower below was done with Method #1.

So that's all for now. Thanks so much for coming by. I hope you come back again soon.

Check out my Etsy Shop ! I'm having a sale on all necklaces ! 15% off until Dec.1st !
Click on any link to the right or just click this link All My Beads

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Still recouping from pneumonia (at last, I got the spelling right ! lol ! ) so another slow week but I did manage to make it a bit productive. Still no torching but kept my hands a bit busy anyway making some jewelry pieces. Funny but once I started torching I swore off making jewelry (which is where it all started) and never thought I'd get back to it. lol ! I actually never left it. Just went in different directions with it.

When I first started beading more than 10 years ago, believe it or not, it was Joan Rivers (RIP Joan) that actually got me started. Yep. I was flipping channels on tv when I came across Joan presenting her jewerly on QVC. I watched because it was a beaded dangle bracelet or charm bracelet or whatever you want to call it. It had ALOT of beads on it. I watched and bought a bracelet. Decided hey, I can make one of those and began my quest for buying bracelets then how - to books, beads and etc. So VERY long story short, I have quite a collection of my own and others lampwork beads, crystal beads, some gemstone beads, metal beads, shell beads, ceramic beads, wood beads, pressed glass beads, polymer clay beads and so on and so on, etc, etc etc. lol ! Thing is, I've actually sold a whole bunch of beads too. Not just my lampwork beads but alot I collected over the years and yet I still have an abundence. :) This past week one of my projects was putting together a new series of jewelry pieces. I call it - " I Have So Many Damn Beads That I Have To Do SOMETHING With Them !" I'll be showing pieces here from time to time and possibly some will go in my Etsy shop. Which is a mistake as there are literally THOUSANDS of jewelry pieces on Etsy ! lol ! Anyway, I'm having fun putting these pieces together and seeing beads again I haven't seen in a while. lol. The trouble is, I keep buying beads. Could be the draw is in my past from my former Hippie days ? I don't know but whatever it is, it keeps me in and I just don't think there's an escape ! lol ! Could be I don't want to escape anyway. :)

My first piece in that new series is this necklace. It's soooo long it can wrap around your neck 3 times if you want it to. :) I'm so happy with it I might of kept it for myself if I wore necklaces. It might go in my Etsy shop, I might gift it. Can't make up my mind. There are crystals, gemstone beads, cheap beads, glass beads, seed beads, metal beads and shell beads in this. I love it ! :)

More of what I did this past week was play with another necklace/wrap bracelet pictured below. I really enjoy how these look ! This one is done is pretty pastel colors. Will be in my Etsy shop soon.

I have one kumihimo braid on the Marudai I'm working on, a beaded bracelet I'm not quite ready to show yet and a necklace I'm working on also for my niece. So again, a bit of a productive week. :)

That's all for now. Thanks so much for coming by. I hope you come back again next time. :)

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Since I joined a couple of kumihimo groups on Facebook, I have pretty much become obsessed with the whole thing again. I mentioned that before so sorry I'm being repetitive but it needed to be said. I can't seem to get enough of it lately. This past week I worked with beads and without. I have been experimenting again with beads which I've shown below. So many shapes, sizes, colors from many manufactures it can be a bit overwhelming. Lately, I've been working with Czech seed beads which is a first for me and discovered how much I truly enjoy them. So far I've tried 5 different sizes and lots of colors. :) I need more. lol !

Another fact I found from being in these groups is that there are soooooo many blogs about Kumihimo it's incredible ! So much information out there and it's mostly free ! So I've come to the conclusion that I will only post about what I'VE discovered, learned and/or how much fun I'm having doing Kumi. I have never "invented" a new braid nor have I even tried. I rather enjoy using what's already out there. Is that a cop-out ? Some may think so but I am not a designer by any means and that's perfectly fine with me. I enjoy just making the braids - with or without beads. It's fun, it's colorful and keeps my old hands from locking up ! lol ! There are plenty of others out there that can design for me. :) In fact, I recently bought 2 Kumihimo tutorials using beads that look interesting IF I can figure out the pattern. The designer did not write it up like I am use to seeing - seeing being the key word. I am a visual learner. We shall see. :)

This past week I managed to make one fiber flat braid, 4 beaded bracelets, 1 experimental strand and 1 beaded wrap bracelet ! Whew ! lol ! I was on a roll and having a blast ! lol ! I love playing with new things. lol ! The photo's are below with a bit of explaination where needed.

More neon colors, different size beads. Unfinished. Again, the cord showing thru a bit so am figuring it's the type/shape of bead being used. The cord on this bracelet to be are all matching colors to the beads - NEON ! :) Found HERE

MORE Czech seed beads I LOVE LOVE LOVE ! I'm getting more. These are a larger bead so the thread does show. I used the Omega #2 as usual so next time I will use a thicker cord.

I love how this bracelet turned out ! It's ICY ! I am a winter person. Will be in my Etsy shop soon. I will also custom make a bracelet for you in this style. Contact me thru my Etsy shop. ;)

This is one of the test pieces I did. Done with supposedly medium size shell chips and chunks ! lol ! It's HEAVY and towards the end of the braid, it loosened up ALOT. Very noticeable. You will notice also that on the beaded ends, there are red seed beads. I was testing something else which would of worked had one end not gotten so loose. Oh well..............................another time, another piece. :)

This piece is also a bead test. These beads are very large but again they are Czech seed beads, matte transparent so the cord really shows thru. Not happy with this one at all. Maybe a heavier cord would work ? Not sure.

Last piece, the wrap bracelet. I love the colors on this one. It will fit up to a size 8 which is what I wear but depending on how many wraps you do around your wrist it can go higher for a smaller wrist or lower for a larger wrist. I'll custom make one for you as this will be listed in my Etsy shop. The clasp is a regular lobster claw clasp. Can also be worn as a single strand necklace.

So there you have it. These are just a few of the pieces I've done in the last 10 days. lol ! There are more but will keep for another time. :) Thanks so much for coming by ! I hope you come back again soon. Please, leave me a comment below and tell me what you think. :) Please note: Your message will not show up unless I "ok" it.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Necklace made with seed beads and my own hand made lampwork focal bead.

My beads are available here https://www.facebook.com/AllMyBeads My hand dyed silk cords are available on my Facebook page also but are in my Etsy shop. If you click on any of the photo's to the right, it will take you there.